The invention herein described relates to a fastening device for the collection of adherence of an article or articles, and an improvement over conventional fastening devices, more specifically, the conventional rubber band.
Hereto before, fastening devices such as the rubber band have been limited by the specific dynamic range of the tensile strength of the rubber used. In some cases, the tensile strength of the rubber is greater than the strength of the articles being held. Such a situation then arises where the articles or article is damaged or crushed. The problem then requires the need for many different sizes of rubber bands, none of which may match a particular use exactly. The advantages of an elastic force are evident in that objects which are to be retained can be retained as closely together as possible and later adjustments which may be necessary because of material shrinking is not needed. The rubber band provides such an elastic force but its force is narrowly confined to a specific tensile tolerance, outside this range, objects are either held too loosely or the rubber band breaks. The range of the Adjustable Rubber Band is extended to all practical applications in a single device.
A further limitation of the conventional rubber band is that the device is completely enclosed, therefore, limited to the fastening of articles with small overall length. Present patents do exist which remedy this difficulty. The conventional cable ties of U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,679 by Scott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,432 by Meeks, U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,242 by Lawkton et al., or U.S. Pat. No. 145,073 by R. P. Stoats. These devices, or course, are severely limited because they lack the elastic force generated by the rubber band. As objects become more tightly compact due to retension, these devices fail and must be retightened. Moreover, they incorporate the use of ratchet type devices to hold adjustment which is often not reversible without the destruction of the device. Even when the problem of reversibility is solved, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,676 by Paradis, the advantages of elasticity, which continually applies an inward force of retension, are not incorporated.
The Adjustable Rubber Band provides the advantages of previous related fastening devices without their limitations. It has the ability to retain objects together providing a constant inward elastic force, the ability to be applied at any point along the length of the object or objects, the ability to adjust to virtually any circumference, and the ability for an adjustment to be reversed and therefore reused at practically no additional cost.